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HOUSTON and KEMAH, Texas, March 1, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- American International Industries, Inc. (OTCBB:AMIN) (OTCQB:AMIN) ("American" or the "Company") today announced that its 50% owned subsidiary, Subsea Oil Technologies, Inc. ("Subsea"), has received its first Office Action from the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO"). Furthermore, a telephonic interview was held with the associated Patent Examiner and his Supervisor.

Scott Wolinsky, a director of American and the inventor of Subsea's patent-pending technology for containing subsea oil and/or gas spills, said "We were extremely surprised to receive an Office Action from the USPTO only several months after the associated patent application in Subsea's intellectual property ("IP") portfolio was filed. Apparently, the USPTO is expediting the examination of patent applications associated with the containment of subsea oil spills, since it normally takes two or more years from the date a patent application is filed before an Office Action is issued."

As Senior Patent Agent at the Philadelphia law firm of Volpe and Koenig, P.C., Mr. Wolinsky will oversee the prosecution of Subsea's IP portfolio, which currently includes eight (8) U.S. patent applications. Mr. Wolinsky has been a Patent Agent since he left the USPTO over ten years ago, after working his way up to the position of Primary Patent Examiner.

Mr. Wolinsky further stated, "We will file a response to the Office Action within the next two weeks. Based on my analysis of the Office Action and the results of the telephonic interview, I am confident that Subsea will be one of the first to obtain a U.S. patent issued by the USPTO that is directed towards the containment of an oil spill caused by a subsea blowout similar in scope to the 2010 BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill crisis. This early start in the patent application examination process will provide Subsea with many opportunities that we did not expect to pursue this year."

Subsea ( www.subseaoiltech.com ) was organized for the purpose of designing, testing and producing efficient, high quality and fully operational, safety and emergency equipment for the undersea oil and gas industries. Subsea's current focus is to provide consulting services in the field of subsea wild well combatant and intervention operations. Subsea has established an on-going program to build an IP portfolio of patent applications directed towards expediting the containment of undersea oil and/or gas spills, such as the 2010 BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, at least until a relief well can be drilled.

American International Industries, Inc. is a diversified holding company, with a business model similar to General Electric, Tyco International, and Berkshire Hathaway. The Company has holdings in Industry, Finance and Oil & Gas, and has a significant Real Estate portfolio, all in Houston, TX and its surrounding areas. The vision of the Company is to further develop holdings in its core industries and plans to expand its interests in the energy sector through acquisition of existing companies, applying the financial resources and management expertise to foster the growth and profitability of the acquired businesses. The holding company serves as a financial and professional partner to the management of the subsidiaries. The role of the holding company is to improve each subsidiary's access to capital, achieve economies of scale by consolidating administrative functions, and utilize the financial and management expertise of corporate personnel across all units. The Company is continuing to work with management of the subsidiary companies to improve revenues, operations and profitability.

Forward-Looking Statements:

This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including information about management's view of the Company's future expectations, plans and prospects, within the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act"). In particular, when used in the preceding discussion, the words "believes," "expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," or "may," and similar conditional expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Act, and are subject to the safe harbor created by the Act. Any statements made in this news release other than those of historical fact, about an action, event or development, are forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those that we may anticipate in each of our segments reflected by our subsidiaries' operations include, among others:, continued value of our real estate portfolio; the strength of the real estate market in Houston, Texas as a whole; the ability to expand its interests in the energy sector; increased levels of competition; the dependence upon financing, the rules of regulatory authorities and risks associated with any potential acquisitions. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the results of the Company, its divisions and concepts to be materially different than those expressed or implied in such statements. These risk factors and others are included from time to time in documents the Company files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to, its Form 10-Ks, Form 10-Qs and Form 8-Ks. Other unknown or unpredictable factors also could have material adverse effects on the Company's future results. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof. The Company cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Finally, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements after the date of this release, except as required by law, and also takes no obligation to update or correct information prepared by third parties that are not paid for by the Company.